Hand injury no influence on title defeat, admits Jorge Lorenzo

Jorge Lorenzo reckons the serious hand injury that forced him to miss the final three races of 2011 didn’t play a key role in him surrendering the MotoGP crown to Honda rival Casey Stoner.

Lorenzo trailed Stoner by 40-points heading into last month’s Phillip Island clash when he suffered a gruesome left hand injury in the pre-race warm-up session in Australia.The Spaniard lost 8mm off the tip of the ring finger on his left hand and he didn’t race in Sepang or Valencia.

But the 2010 MotoGP world champion said the hand injury, which also forced him to miss two crucial testing days on Yamaha’s new 1000cc YZR-M1 in Valencia, had no bearing on the outcome of the title.

He told MCN: “I don’t think I lost the championship because of my injury. I lost the championship because all together we weren’t competitive enough to fight with Casey and Honda and that’s the main issue. I hope next year we will be more competitive.”

Aussie Stoner took his second world title in impressive fashion with 10 wins and he only finished off the podium just once all season.